Critical Review: 1st Capital Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FISB) vs. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

1st Capital Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FISB) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

8.1% of 1st Capital Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.7% of Bank of America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bank of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares 1st Capital Bancorp and Bank of America”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
1st Capital Bancorp	$41.09 million	1.91	$3.54 million	N/A	N/A
Bank of America	$192.43 billion	1.87	$27.13 billion	$3.22	14.53

Bank of America has higher revenue and earnings than 1st Capital Bancorp.

Risk & Volatility

1st Capital Bancorp has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of America has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for 1st Capital Bancorp and Bank of America, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
1st Capital Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bank of America	1	5	15	2	2.78

Bank of America has a consensus target price of $48.58, indicating a potential upside of 3.79%. Given Bank of America’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of America is more favorable than 1st Capital Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares 1st Capital Bancorp and Bank of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
1st Capital Bancorp	8.20%	N/A	N/A
Bank of America	14.10%	10.29%	0.84%

Summary

Bank of America beats 1st Capital Bancorp on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 1st Capital Bancorp

1st Capital Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for 1st Capital Bank that provides various banking products and services for businesses, professionals, real estate investors, family commercial entities, and individuals in the Central Coast region of California. It offers checking, saving, money market, savings, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as individual retirement and health savings accounts; and other services including debit cards, check orders, and cannabis banking services. The company also provides lending services, which includes business, agriculture, and wine industry lending; commercial real estate and personal loans; and small business administration loans, and government guaranteed lending solutions. In addition, it offers electronic banking services including online services, such as personal and business online banking; and cash management services comprising ACH origination, online wire transfer, positive pay, merchant card, and remote deposit capture services. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Salinas, California.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets. The Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; credit and debit cards; residential mortgages, and home equity loans; and direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans. The GWIM segment provides investment management, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products and services; wealth management solutions; and customized solutions, including specialty asset management services. The Global Banking segment offers lending products and services, including commercial loans, leases, commitment facilities, trade finance, and commercial real estate and asset-based lending; treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, short-term investing options, and merchant services; working capital management solutions; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, and merger-related and other advisory services; and fixed-income and equity research, and certain market-based services. The Global Markets segment provides market-making, financing, securities clearing, settlement, and custody services; securities and derivative products; and risk management products using interest rate, equity, credit, currency and commodity derivatives, foreign exchange, fixed-income, and mortgage-related products. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1784 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.